Student Debt Is Worst At Public Universities With Highly Paid Presidents

Student debt is highest at public universities that offer
larger-than-average executive compensation, according to a new
report from the Institute for Policy Studies.

The report — titled "The One
Percent at State U" — found that executive compensation was
"closely related" to a number of financial issues in higher
education, including student debt and low-wage faculty labor. We
first saw this paper
at The New York Times.

"Though it has been rising everywhere, average student debt of
graduates in the top 25 public universities with the highest
executive pay increased 5 percentage points more or 13% faster
than the national average from summer 2006 to summer 2012,"
according to the IPS report.

Additionally, IPS reports that they "found that adjunct
(part-time) and contingent (temporary) faculty grew much faster
than the national average when executive compensation soared at
the top 25."

A new report released this weekend by the Chronicle of Higher
Education found that executive compensation at public
universities is at an all-time high, with
nine public college presidents making over $1,000,000 last
year. Former Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee was
the highest-paid executive, making $6,057,615 in total
compensation.

IPS also determined the "most unequal public universities," based
on "excessive executive pay, faster than average rising student
debt, inflated non-academic administrative expenditures, and
large increases in low-wage and/or contingent faculty labor."
Here are the top five: